Competing against some of the nation's top runners in the elite high school mile at the Prefontaine Classic Friday night, Concord Carlise junior Thomas Ratcliffe finished an outstanding fifth overall with an all-time best of 4 minutes, 7.63 seconds at Oregon's historic Hayward Field. Ratcliffe took the lead with about 500 meters to go before being passed by several runners in the final straightaway to hang on to his top-five finish. Ratcliffe is entered in both the 1 Mile and 2 Mile in today’s MIAA Division 2 State Meet. He raced last night at 11:30 pm EST on the West Coast, so it remains to be seen if he makes an attempt to toe the line later this afternoon at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech.
The race was won by top seed Carlos Villareal of Arizona, who bolted from fifth place in the final straightaway to edge New York's Mike Brannigan with a winning time of 4:05.25. Brannigan took runner-up honors in 4:05.78. Jack Salisbury, a senior from La Salle Academy in Rhode island, came on strong in the last 100 meters to capture third place.